The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. The bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Eastern Shore of Maryland, the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and the state of Delaware. The mouth of the bay at its southern point is located between Cape Henry and Cape Charles. With its northern portion in Maryland and the southern part in Virginia, the Chesapeake Bay is a very important feature for the ecology and economy of those two states, as well as others surrounding within its watershed. More than 150 major rivers and streams flow into the bay's 64,299-square-mile (166,534 km2) drainage basin, which covers parts of six states and all of Washington, D.C.
Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not all oysters, are in the superfamily Ostreoidea.
The eastern oyster —also called the Atlantic oyster, American oyster, or East Coast oyster—is a species of true oyster native to eastern North and South America. Other names in local or culinary use include the Wellfleet oyster, Virginia oyster, Malpeque oyster, Blue Pointoyster, Chesapeake Bay oyster, and Apalachicola oyster. C. virginica ranges from northern New Brunswick south through parts of the West Indies to Venezuela. It is farmed in all of the Maritime provinces of Canada and all Eastern Seaboard and Gulf states of the United States, as well as Puget Sound, Washington, where it is known as the Totten Inlet Virginica. It was introduced to the Hawaiian Islands in the 19th century and is common in Pearl Harbor.
Callinectes sapidus, the blue crab, Atlantic blue crab, or, regionally, the Maryland blue crab, is a species of crab native to the waters of the western Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, and introduced internationally.
Dead zones are hypoxic (low-oxygen) areas in the world's oceans and large lakes. Hypoxia occurs when dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration falls to or below 2 ml of O2/liter. When a body of water experiences hypoxic conditions, aquatic flora and fauna begin to change behavior in order to reach sections of water with higher oxygen levels. Once DO declines below 0.5 ml O2/liter in a body of water, mass mortality occurs. With such a low concentration of DO, these bodies of water fail to support the aquatic life living there. Historically, many of these sites were naturally occurring. However, in the 1970s, oceanographers began noting increased instances and expanses of dead zones. These occur near inhabited coastlines, where aquatic life is most concentrated.
The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) is a United States 2,650-acre (10.7 km2) environmental research and educational facility operated by the Smithsonian Institution. It is located on the Rhode and West Rivers near Edgewater in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, near the western shore of Chesapeake Bay. The center's focus of study is the ecosystems of coastal zones, particularly in the Chesapeake Bay estuary and nearby wetlands.
Oyster farming is an aquaculture practice in which oysters are bred and raised mainly for their pearls, shells and inner organ tissue, which is eaten. Oyster farming was practiced by the ancient Romans as early as the 1st century BC on the Italian peninsula and later in Britain for export to Rome. The French oyster industry has relied on aquacultured oysters since the late 18th century.
The Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation (CERF) is a private, nonprofit organization created in 1971. At that time, the members of two regionally based organizations, the Atlantic Estuarine Research Society (AERS) and the New England Estuarine Research Society (NEERS) recognized the need for a third estuarine organization that would address national estuarine and coastal issues. Today, CERF is a multidisciplinary federation of members and seven regionally-based Affiliate Societies dedicated to the understanding and wise stewardship of estuaries and coasts worldwide.
A wild fishery is a natural body of water with a sizeable free-ranging fish or other aquatic animal population that can be harvested for its commercial value. Wild fisheries can be marine (saltwater) or lacustrine/riverine (freshwater), and rely heavily on the carrying capacity of the local aquatic ecosystem.
The Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) is one of the largest marine research and education centers in the United States. Founded in 1940, VIMS is unique among marine science institutions in its legal mandate to provide research, education, and advisory services to government, citizens, and industry. Funding for VIMS comes from the Commonwealth of Virginia, grants and contracts from federal and state agencies, and private giving. The School of Marine Science (SMS) at VIMS is the graduate school in marine science for the College of William & Mary. VIMS offers M.S., Ph.D., and professional M.A. degrees in marine science. The school has 52 faculty members, an enrollment of 80-100 students, and includes 4 academic departments. VIMS' main campus is located in Gloucester Point, Virginia.
Ocean deoxygenation is the reduction of the oxygen content in different parts of the ocean due to human activities. There are two areas where this occurs. Firstly, it occurs in coastal zones where eutrophication has driven some quite rapid declines in oxygen to very low levels. This type of ocean deoxygenation is also called dead zones. Secondly, ocean deoxygenation occurs also in the open ocean. In that part of the ocean, there is nowadays an ongoing reduction in oxygen levels. As a result, the naturally occurring low oxygen areas are now expanding slowly. This expansion is happening as a consequence of human caused climate change. The resulting decrease in oxygen content of the oceans poses a threat to marine life, as well as to people who depend on marine life for nutrition or livelihood. A decrease in ocean oxygen levels affects how productive the ocean is, how nutrients and carbon move around, and how marine habitats function.
Fishing down the food web is the process whereby fisheries in a given ecosystem, "having depleted the large predatory fish on top of the food web, turn to increasingly smaller species, finally ending up with previously spurned small fish and invertebrates".
Oyster reef restoration refers to the reparation and reconstruction of degraded oyster reefs. Environmental changes, modern fishing practices, over harvesting, water pollution, and other factors, have resulted in damage, disease, and ultimately, a large decline in global population and prevalence of oyster habitats. Aside from ecological importance, oyster farming is an important industry in many regions around the world. Both natural and artificial materials have been used in efforts to increase population and regenerate reefs.
Ischadium is a monotypic genus of mussels in the family Mytilidae. The sole species is Ischadium recurvum, known as the "Hooked mussel" or "Bent mussel". It can be found along the Atlantic coast of North America, ranging from Cape Cod to the West Indies. They are often found growing on Eastern oysters, either intertidal or subtidal. They also attach to other hard substrates, including artificial reefs and dead shells of brackish water clams, Rangia cuneata.
A Living shoreline is a relatively new approach for addressing shoreline erosion and protecting marsh areas. Unlike traditional structures such as bulkheads or seawalls that worsen erosion, living shorelines incorporate as many natural elements as possible which create more effective buffers in absorbing wave energy and protecting against shoreline erosion. The process of creating a living shoreline is referred to as soft engineering, which utilizes techniques that incorporate ecological principles in shoreline stabilization. The natural materials used in the construction of living shorelines create and maintain valuable habitats. Structural and organic materials commonly used in the construction of living shorelines include sand, wetland plants, sand fill, oyster reefs, submerged aquatic vegetation, stones and coir fiber logs.
Margaret A. Palmer is a Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Entomology at the University of Maryland and director of the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC). Palmer works on the restoration of streams and rivers, and is co-author of the book Foundations of Restoration Ecology. Palmer has been an invited speaker in numerous and diverse settings including regional and international forums, science-diplomacy venues, and popular outlets such as The Colbert Report.
The term oyster reef refers to dense aggregations of oysters that form large colonial communities. Because oyster larvae need to settle on hard substrates, new oyster reefs may form on stone or other hard marine debris. Eventually the oyster reef will propagate by spat settling on the shells of older or nonliving oysters. The dense aggregations of oysters are often referred to as an oyster reef, oyster bed, oyster bank, oyster bottom, or oyster bar interchangeably. These terms are not well defined and often regionally restricted.
Rosanna "Rosie" ʻAnolani Alegado is a Kanaka ʻōiwi/Native Hawaiian Associate Professor of Oceanography at the Daniel K. Inouye Center for Microbial Oceanography as well as director of the Hawai‘i Sea Grant’s Ulana 'Ike Center of Excellence at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Alegado studies the evolution of host–microbe interactions and the microbial ecology of coastal estuarine systems.
Sea rewilding is an area of environmental conservation activity which focuses on rewilding, restoring ocean life and returning seas to a more natural state. Sea rewilding projects operate around the world, working to repopulate a wide range of organisms, including giant clams, sharks, skates, sea sturgeons, and many other species. Rewilding marine and coastal ecosystems offer potential ways to mitigate climate change and sequester carbon. Sea rewilding projects are currently less common than those focusing on rewilding land, and seas are under increasing stress from the blue economy – commercial activities which further stress the marine environment. Rewilding projects held near coastal communities can economically benefit local businesses as well as individuals and communities a whole.
The Oyster Recovery Partnership (ORP) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that leads conservation efforts of the native Eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, in the Chesapeake Bay and Eastern United States. The organization's activities and programs include oyster restoration, shell recycling conservation, and sustainable fishery initiatives.
